My band
by Panic1AtTheHere
Summary: The ninja team aren’t talking. They’ve all gone their seperate ways. But when they all meet up again too early, they each find out that one of them is hiding a lot more than they are letting on... Rating for some hints at self harm, depression, attempted suicide. I would say because I’m paranoid, but this time I have a legit reason.
1. Nya!

**So this has been one of my personal favourite headcanons that I came up with a few years ago, and I decided to make this story. By the way, this is not in any way related to "Help her!", but the same OC's in this are mentioned in that story. I want to make this a full on story with chapters and whatnot, but only time will tell if I actually do that. Anyway, this is set between seasons three and four, Rebooted and Tournament of Elements. **

Zane is dead.

The team aren't talking. _What team?_

He and his friends had gone separate ways. _What friends?_

Now, he is a tv show host, and admittedly, he hates his new job. The lights, the shouting, the cameras, the crowd, the makeup, the... no... the _concealer!_

Not to mention the loneliness. He has never felt so alone, even on those days in the junkyard.

No. He needs to take his mind off of this. Surely there's somewhere he can go...

Oh! That's it! There was a poster in town about a band performing somewhere nearby! And the tickets are still on sale! Maybe... if he is quick...

He got his ticket. Three hours later, he is ready, walking through Ninjago City. The sight is painful, sure, but it is time he embraced that pain and used it to move forward. After all, he still had to move on from her... _no! Jay, stay focused! You weren't good enough for her anyway..._

He passes a restaurant, and his stomach grumbles. He checks his watch, deciding he has time. He enters the restaurant to find the place packed. There are families, friends and couples everywhere, in every corner, along every wall. Every table brings a pang of pain into his chest, and he hears a bunch of, maybe, six laughs overlapping each other. They sounded the same way back when...

He shakes himself out of his painful memories and listens as a news report plays on a tv on the wall in front of him.

_"I'm here tonight with the lead singer of the Diamond Hearts, Claire Chen!" The news lady announces as Jay looks up. There is a young girl with brown hair on the screen. Her eyes are hazel, and her hair is pulled back into a ponytail. _

_"So," the news reporter continues, "Claire, is it true that the Diamonds Hearts are disbanding?" The young girl sadly nods. _

_"I'm afraid so, Lucy." She replies, looking down at her lap. "My lead backup singer and I had a massive falling-out, and we each had the support of about half of the band. In the end, we all agreed that it would be easier if we just split up." The news reporter nods with a melancholy look in her eyes. _

_"So, if you don't mind me asking, Claire, are the Dismond Hearts still going to have their record label? Are you and your half of the band going to continue your music? Or will the other half?"_

_"Oh, Lucy," Claire laughs as she replies, "both halves are hoping to still make music, but only our side will be the Diamond Hearts. I don't care what their side will be called, but I will not just sit here and let my old lead backup singer take the name that I worked so hard on thinking of, claiming that she came up with it."_

_"Such a shame. You girls were so close to becoming Ninjago's most popular band as well. And this is so soon before your next show too! Tell me, will that show be the final one, or...?"_

_"Oh no, Lucy." The girl, Claire, responds firmly. "That show has been cancelled. I refuse to work with who would have been our guest performer, after she tore my band apart."_

Jay gapes slightly at the screen until he is brought abruptly back into the real world when a girl suddenly pushes her chair out from her table and storms by him, accidentally jostling him as she heads for the door. She mumbles an apology as she leaves, and Jay replies that it's alright before he realises that he recognises her voice. He turns his head rapidly to see the girl's back as she leaves. Another girl runs after her, but Jay doesn't recognise her. He's still in shock by who he'd just seen.

_Nya._

**A/N: so this is set between Rebooted and Tournament of Elements. This is based on a few headcanons of mine that I adore. Also, many of the characters mentioned in this story are OC's, so you won't know most of these characters. But yeah, "Help her!" fans, don't worry, a new chapter of that is coming and no, this Claire and that Claire are not in any way the same Claire. Well, they are, but these are completely different timelines. They are two separate stories with different AU's, OC's and plots. So don't worry. **

**As well as a new chapter of "Help her!", I'm also gonna be releasing the next chapter of We Aren't Heroes soon. Hopefully in the next couple of days. Oh well, I'll see you guys, gals and non-binary pals soon!**

**-LunaPikazard**


	2. Jay!

**Back so soon? Why yes, yes I am!**

**So, I know that there aren't any comments yet, so no replies, but oh well. Have the next chapter anyway!**

Nya storms out of the restaurant. _That lying, back-stabbing, double-crossing—_ her thoughts are interrupted as she bumps into someone on her furious walk.

"Oh, sorry." She mumbles as she pushes past the guy she walked into, and he replies just as quietly, telling her that it's okay. _Jeez, I haven't heard that in a long time... no. Now isn't the time to be thinking of him. Of any of them. You don't need them anymore. _She pushes her way out of the building as one of her friends comes bounding after her. She ignores the other girl until she bursts out of the restaurant, steaming like a pot of stew.

"Nya!" The other girl calls after her as she exits the building. "What's up? Why'd you walk off?"

"Skylor." Nya replies shortly. "How can you just let her talk about you like that?"

"I've lived with it for many years. I've gotten used to it. And you need to as well." Skylor answers firmly. She crosses her arms as she looks at her friend. Nya's all in a twist, and she's freaking out over something that she doesn't need to. It's making Skylor a bit uncomfortable and confused, so she just stands there, waiting for Nya to cool off. After a minute, she asks, "Are you done?"

"Oh! I just don't understand how you can put up with her so easily! She's insufferable! She's a lying pig! She never came up with that name, you did, you should take full credit, not her, and she's twisting the truth so that you get called a liar—"

"Nya!" Skylor shouts, cutting her off before her speech becomes a rant. "Don't you worry about her. She's my issue to deal with, and I would if I actually cared enough. She's just trying to stir up trouble so I call her up to argue. It's fine. Besides, we need to think of a new name for our band anyway. That name wasn't going to stick once Claire and her side were out."

"Right..." Nya whispers. "Wait a minute... 'we'?" Skylor nods, a blank expression on her face. "What do you mean, 'we'?" Nya immediately feels herself boiling up again, and Skylor realises her mistake even as it becomes too late.

"No no no no no no no!" She exclaims, trying to calm Nya down. "I meant we as in we as a band. We all need to contribute if we're gonna get a name we all like and agree on!" Nya thinks it over again.

"But you said we." Her voice is quiet in the street. "I'm not one of you. But you said we. As if I'm one of the band, but I'm not." Skylor raises an eyebrow as she pushes her hood down, exposing her bright scarlet hair. She then crosses her arms again.

"Who said?" She replies with a sly smile. Nya's jaw drops.

"Are you saying that... you want me... in your band?" Her voice is now somehow even quieter, and Skylor has to strain her ears to hear what she's saying. _Glad I took my hood down. Wow, that may actually be the first time I've ever said that... well, there's a first time for everything..._

"Yeah." She replies simply, looking Nya straight in the face. "Do you wanna be our new lead singer?" Nya smiles as she nods vigorously. Skylor smiles too.

"Now, we just gotta think of some ideas for band names." Skylor continues. "Then, once we have a few, we can go back in and ask everyone else's opinions." Nya nods. Her face lights up.

"I've just had the perfect idea. But I'll need to call my brother to see if it's okay with him." She bites her lip as she speaks.

"Why?" Skylor asks. _This can't be good... _Nya looks back up at her, though not daring herself to make eye contact.

"My brother used it once as a young teen, and I'll need to check with him that it's okay if we use it again. He never actually copyrighted it, and they didn't use it again, and it's been years, so it _should _be okay, but better safe than sorry!" Skylor nods as she turns away. She leaves Nya to call her brother and walks towards the road.

"Come on..." Nya mutters under her breath as her brother's phone rings. "Pick up, pick up, pick up!" He doesn't. "Oh come on Kai!" She shouts as the doors to the restaurant open and a figure comes marching confidently out.

"What's up sis?" A voice rings out, and Nya faces the man who just left the restaurant. It's Kai. She grins and walks towards her older brother.

"Nothing. It's just... you remember back when we had to stop Pythor from collecting all of the Fang Blades?" Nya asks, and Kai nods.

Skylor walks back towards Nya when she's sure her brother has left, and Nya tells Skylor that she got her brother's permission to use the name. Agreeing that the name is perfect, they share one more smile, hoping that the others in their band agree with their choice. They both turn to head back in. However, a different figure blocks their path.

Jay.

**So that's chapter 2! I hope you guys all enjoyed! I'm sorry if it was a little short.**

**In case you can't tell from my other chaptered stories, I _really _like cliffhangers. That's why both of these have had them. I may actually make that a link between each chapter, because so far, both have had names as cliffhangers, so I may keep doing that if I can. Anyway, I'm hoping to have chapter 3 out soon, so don't fret. **

**Also, chapter 18 of "Help her!" is on its way, as is chapter 3 of We Aren't Heroes. Wow, I have a lot of writing to do. Goodbye, sleep! It was nice seeing you again! Oh yeah, and I may have the second chapter of Gone up soon, but I'm still unsure about whether that'll be a one-shot or origin story for Skylor. Let me know in the reviews for this story or Gone. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and the next one will come soon. I promise. **

**Bye everyone!**

**LunaPikazard**


	3. Kai

**Heya guys. I've been really busy recently, and I'm absolutely shattered, so if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes or words that don't make sense in a sentence, I'm sorry, it's me and my autocorrect.**

**Any way, apologies for my break, I've been in a bit of an emotionally rough spot, and I've been having some issues with life recently, and while I've been wanting to write, I hadn't gotten around to it. At time of writing it's ten past two in the morning here in the UK, so yeah, I am a glass that has been dropped down three hundred flights of stairs - shattered, possibly beyond repair. **

**Okay, I've rambled on enough now, have the next chapter of My Band. **

Nya and Jay freeze, staring at each other in shock. The same thought races through their heads.

"What are you doing here?" They exclaim in unison. Nya crosses her arms and coldly glares at Jay, who quails at the intensity of the look. He shuffles uncomfortably on his feet, keeping his gaze down and refusing to lift it to Nya's face again, though neither of them are sure if it's due to embarrassment or a fear of making eye contact.

"I was just stopping here for food before I went to a concert." Jay mumbles after a minute or two of silence, still staring at the ground. "But then it got cancelled. It was on the news." Nya nods sharply as she realises which concert he was on his way to. _I really _am _glad that concert has been cancelled. _"What about you?"

"I'm here with my friends." She replies, still glaring at the top of Jay's head, keeping up the display of dominance. _That's right. I still have friends. I don't need you. I don't need any of you. _Jay nods gently and takes a step backwards.

"Right. Well, have fun." His words are hardly more than a whisper, and Nya has to strain her ears to hear him. "I had better get going." The girl once again jerks her head in acknowledgment, and Jay slips away from her, practically running down the high street. Nya sighs quietly before taking a step towards the door to the restaurant. Skylor soon follows her, and they join their friends at their table again. Everyone loves the name Nya and Skylor had decided on, and Nya feels a strange sense of pride despite not having come up with the name. _Oh well. You recommended it. That's all that really matters right now. Although nothing really matters to me. _

Jay only stops walking so quickly once he is sure that Nya and her mysterious friend can no longer see him. He looks back over the previous conversation with the girl he used to love, still does, and realises that a lot has changed about her since he last saw her. Not only has her personality changed, as far as Jay could tell anyway, her appearance and clothing style have changed too.

While her hair is still in its usual bob, it's slightly longer now than before, nearly reaching her shoulders. Also, instead of having her old bangs that were just long enough to cover her forehead while being short enough to stay out of her face, she now has a section of her thick hair resting over her right eye, obscuring it from view. Her eyes seem to have lost all their joy, leaving them as dark brown shadows in the mud rather than the melted chocolate he usually associates them with. She also now has black circles beneath her eyes, and dark purple eyeshadow on her eyelids, so dark that one can easily mistake it as black from a distance. Her eyelashes are bold and black, long and defined. Her lips are coloured a similar shade of purple as her eyeshadow, though not quite as thickly laid on or as dark.

She now wears long black ripped jeans, showing small sections of her tanned skin, while her arms are covered by long sleeves. Her shirt is black, and flows perfectly into her jeans, which are held up on her waist by a thick black belt with small studs decorating it. Over her arm hangs a black hoodie, plain from what he can see. She has black boots on her feet and black wireless headphones around her neck. On her black shirt rests a small white badge with a band name on it, one he could not read and did not recognise.

She has changed so much. She even holds herself differently. Jay shudders slightly as he regains his sense of where he is and why he's there. He slowly turns and trudges to his apartment outside the main city.

Two days later, Jay strolls through New Ninjago City again, since he has some free time before the next episode of his show. He gazes around the high street when he notices a large group of girls heading towards him, Nya leading them. The girls are all different, with differing hairstyles and colours, clothing styles, appearances and more. They walk in a huddle, with Nya at the front, followed closely by the girl Jay had seen her with outside the restaurant, and another girl. Behind them, four other girls laugh and joke, and Jay notices that the two on the outside at the back are identical in appearances and clothing. _Twins. _The group approaches him but Nya doesn't seem to notice him. If she does, she does a great job of hiding it. Nya is speaking to the whole group, and every one of the other girls seem to hang on her every word. As she explains something, she puts her hands out in front of her animatedly. As she drops her left arm, Jay notices that she must have chosen a black shirt that is too small for her, since her sleeves rise up slightly as she talks.

Jay sees something on her arm. A mark. A long, straight, thin, faded red mark. A mark like a cut. Nya soon lowers her arm again and tugs her sleeve down to her hand again before throwing her hoodie over her head to hide her shirt from view, stopping anyone from noticing her arms. As she pulls the bottom of the hoodie down, Jay sees the same name as was on her badge a few days ago - My Chemical Romance. It is written in large, scratchy, white letters on the front of the black hoodie. While Jay sees all this, he doesn't pay attention to it. Instead he pulls his phone from his jeans pocket, and dials a number. This is not a good sign. The team said they'd never contact each other on purpose again unless it was an emergency. Well, this is an emergency alright. Jay pushes the phone against his ear as the person on the other end picks up.

"Jay? What's up?"

Kai.

**A/N: Hey guys! I hope you all liked that chapter. So yeah, now we have emo Nya on our hands. Yay! This story is based on a headcanon I've had for years now and I've shared with my bestie. Can you guess who she is? That's right - I'm talking about you, Dyph! ;)**

**Anyway, as I said, I've had this headcanon for years now, but only just recently decided to make a story for it. So here it is. **

**Anyway, I'm hoping to get the next chapter out soon, but I also need to sleep and prepare for school again, and battle my depression, so that's gonna be an adventure of its own. Yay?**

**Okay, I've said anyway enough now. But anyway, see you all at the next chapter!**

**Bye everyone!**

**Also, Dyphen, thank you sooooo much for directing me to the Sanders Sides section of this site. Seriously, you don't know how happy I am now that I've found it. So yeah, thanks for that. **

**See ya later, guys, gals and non-binary pals! Peace out!**

**-LunaPikazard**


	4. ASAP

**Heya guys! I'm back with a new chapter of My Band! I've just moved up a year in school, and I'm already tired XD. Oh well, this is my priority. I've been properly launching myself into this, since I have a bit of writer's block for "Help her!" at the moment, and I know exactly what's gonna happen in this story so far. So yeah, this is my main top priority. I've been wanting to complete this story for a while, since this was just meant to be a side project to get away from "Help her!" for a bit, but y'all seem to be enjoying it, so I'm focusing on this a lot more now. But if you are enjoying this story, don't forget to follow, favourite and/or comment. Any of those three are greatly appreciated 100% of the time. **

**Anyway, I'm now starting to ramble, so enough of me, onto My Band: Chapter 4!**

"Kai, we need to talk. Meet me in Ninjago City high street ASAP." Jay can barely stop the words from falling out of his mouth, and he realises that they simply don't sound urgent enough for what his situation is. "It's about Nya." He adds, trying to convey the true urgency of the problem. _Calm down Jay, you probably didn't see what you thought you saw, you're just over reacting._** But why would she have covered her wrists again so quickly if it wasn't that?_ Maybe she was just cold. __But it's warm!_ **Jay's thoughts are in complete turmoil as he hangs up the phone, not waiting for Kai's response. He then rapidly turns around again to face Nya and her group, only to find that they have vanished into thin air. Worried, he spins around frantically, needing to find her. Finally, Jay sees Nya separate from her friends as they turn different corners. Jay quickly runs after her, trying to stay as silent as possible. His mind screams at him to run faster, while his legs protest against the sudden movement. While the two argue, Jay continues to run, moving faster and faster until, eventually, he catches up to Nya just as she turns another corner, passing a rather shadowy alleyway. Jay grabs her arm and pulls her into the alleyway, ignoring the shocked, even scared, look on her face.** _That's not like Nya. _**

"Jay?!" Nya nearly screams as she sees him in front of her. "What the f—" Jay quickly holds his hands up in mock surrender to silence her, and she closes her mouth, eyes still wide.

"I need to talk to you." He replies, staring into her deep chocolate eyes boldly. This time, Nya breaks the contact, dropping her gaze to the ground at the mouth of the alley. Jay swallows and pushes on. "What's up?" He tried to sound as casual as he can, but his voice wavers as he speaks, though he is unsure about whether it's from anxiety, awkwardness, confusion, worry or pure emotion. After all, he hasn't seen Nya since the day before he left the sanctuary of the Samurai X cave, after... Jay shakes himself out of his mourning trance, and keeps his eye firmly on Nya, who quivers slightly.

"Jay," Nya barely speaks above a whisper, but Jay can hear her quite clearly in the silence. She still refuses to meet his eye. _What's gotten into her? _"It's nothing you need to worry about." Nya shakes her head as she tries to leave the alley, but Jay grabs her wrist. Nya flinches and whips around at the touch, before ripping her arm from his grip. She turns and sprints away, leaving Jay alone in the silence to call her name, his arm outstretched and reaching for her again, only for her to elude his fingers one more time.

**A/N: since I'm going to be updating this story more now (hopefully), the chapters may be shorter than the previous ones, like this one. Anyway, in case you can't tell, this is where sh*t is gonna get _REAL_, so get ready for that. **

**Replies to reviews:**

**Dyphen: of course you're my best friend pal! I don't have any others on here lmao (yes, I'm lonely!) and I'm glad you're liking the whole 'edgelord Nya' thing, cos I was worried I would be alone on that one XD nice to know I'm not. And also, don't we all want someone like Jay in our lives? *insert Lenny face* anyway, I'm glad you seem to be enjoying my story so far. **

**I'm sorry for this chapter being so short, but since the uploads will become more frequent, the chapters may get shorter. **

**L-O-L, say oh well, or go to _hell._**

**Sorry not sorry bout that. *insert Lenny face***

**For real though, sorry. **

**Bye everyone! Good night! Wait, night? _It's not midnight yet?! Am I possessed?!_**

**-LunaPikazard**


	5. Thnks Fr Th Mmrs

**I am finally back! I'm not dead! Sorry for the long break, I tried to get this chapter out just after the previous one, but I passed out from exhaustion. Sorry everyone!**

**Quick heads up, this is where emo bands like My Chemical Romance, Twenty Øne Piløts, Panic! At The Disco, Linkin Park and even some others like Fall Out Boy, Gorillaz, I DONT KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME, some Vampire Weekend, Jaymes Young, All Time Low, Rixton, Imagine Dragons and more will be referenced, so if you can identify any, congrats. Some will be very obvious, others quite subtle. Let me know if you get any. *thumbs up* I may also reference a few musicals, such as Be More Chill and Six (thanks _Dyphen!_).**

**Anyway, enough of my rambling, onto the new chapter! :D**

Jay paces in the high street, waiting for Kai. He walks at varying speeds, nearly running in one direction before turning and slowly moping in the other, spinning and spinning as if he were a train on its track. Finally, the boy in red appears at the edges of Jay's vision, and his head snaps up to meet his old brother-by-bond. Jay's heart drops slightly as the two make eye contact, though his lips raise slightly into a gentle smile, one he tries to hide. Many emotions and memories flood his mind, and he feels a tune he doesn't recognise flow in with them. Words come with the music, which sounds oddly familiar but alien to him. _Thanks for the memories, _it says, _even though they weren't so great. _Jay shakes his head like a dog dispelling an irritating fly, and takes a step towards Kai. Kai keeps his hands firmly in his pockets, and Jay leads him down a corner and into a different alley in the large city. Kai leans against one wall and crosses his arms across his chest, raising a single eyebrow.

"This better be important." Kai warns, attempting to threaten Jay, but the boy in blue shrugs it off without a second thought.

"Trust me, Kai," he replies, looking the taller boy in the face with narrowed eyes, completely disregarding how anxious one side of his brain is, the side that remembers Kai's temper and raging, fiery fury. "This is more important than you trying to woo some other girl who has no interest in you besides that you're an ex-ninja who saved Ninjago a couple times." Kai recoils as if Jay had slapped him, and gasps over-exaggeratedly. Jay rolls his eyes and crosses his own arms, planting his feet firmly on the ground and feeling as if he could stay there even as Kai shoved him from all sides. The soles of his trainers are superglue, holding him against the ground with no discernible weakness. Kai sighs.

"Fine. So what's eating you? For the record, I'm already refusing to save your hide again if you're being picked on by some jerks down at an arcade or some sh-"

"No." Jay's voice smothers Kai's, and both wonder where the shorter boy's sudden spurt of confidence has come from. "It's Nya. Something's... I don't know... _off_ with her. Like, something's wrong but she won't tell me what it is." Jay shrugs half-heartedly as if it will help convey his point, and Kai raises his eyebrow again.

"Of _course _she won't tell you if something's up with her." Kai replies, rolling his eyes while Jay isn't looking at them anymore. Jay's head snaps up. "After all, you two broke up a few months ago!" Kai exclaims. _Is that really what's been on _her _mind too? _Jay can hardly believe his ears.

"Wait, so _that's _what's been troubling her recently?" Jay can hardly keep his tone flat and normal. _Why didn't she say so? Maybe we can go back to being how we were before **he **entered the equation? Maybe we can be happy again?! _Kai's laughter pierces Jay's thoughts, and his eyebrows and mouth drop simultaneously.

"Of _course _it's not!" Kai chuckles as he shakes his head at Jay. "That's just one reason why she won't tell you if something's wrong. Another is that she's just too stubborn to tell anyone anything about her! She has _wayyyyy _too much dignity for that!" Kai's laughter returns, and he fights to remain standing as his knees buckle beneath his weight. Jay, meanwhile, can feel his heart sinking further into his stomach. His eyebrows drop miserably, though he tries to hide it with a forced laugh, which is nothing compared to Kai's peals of roaring, rocking laughter.

"Right..." Jay mumbles, his voice hardly audible against Kai's dying chuckles. "Anyway," he puffs his chest out slightly as he raises his head and shoulders, trying his hardest to appear stronger than he is. "how've you been? I haven't seen you since... in a few months, I mean." Jay quickly attempts to push more memories from his head, ones he had been so fond of back in those moments - ones of him and his team, of Nya, of _Zane. _Jay bites back tears as Kai finally stops laughing and puts on a straight face again.

"Well, I've been... okay, I guess. I mean, I've been a whole lot better, but I've probably been worse." Kai replies, awkwardly dropping his gaze and refusing to look Jay in the face again. Jay nods in agreement before Kai clears his throat. "Right, so... are we done here?"

"Oh yeah, yeah, you can go back to whatever you were doing." Jay shakes himself out of his thoughts one last time. "But first..."

Kai leaves the alleyway with a confused look on his face. He understands what Jay asked him to do, he but wonders why and how. _Oh well. I'll find out soon enough. _He turns and heads back through the high street.

On the other side of the capital city, Nya sits in another one of the hundreds of alleys. She picks at her sleeve nervously, constantly shooting glances out towards the mouth, checking that she truly is alone. _I took all those precautions, telling the band my excuses, coming to the more secluded, private side of town, hiding away from cameras and other people, and I haven't seen Kai, Jay or either of the other ninja for a while..._

The sleeve finally comes down from her wrist. It's bad. A lot worse than she had thought. She definitely needs to keep those hidden.

**A/N: so, that was the first reference of this story, I think. Jay's thoughts of that tune are the lyrics of 'Thnks fr th mmrs' by Fall Out Boy, who I love by the way. I highly recommend you all check out any of those bands/ singers/ musicians I mentioned at the beginning of the chapter, because personally I adore them all. So yeah, go check out Thnks Fr Th Mmrs because it's great.**

**I had tried to get this out on the same night as the last chapter, but I couldn't stay awake and passed out, so I hope this is soon enough. **

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and yes, I am trying to get this story out more, but school is back up again in the UK, has been for a few days now, and I've had a bit of writer's block, not to mention no time, since I'm trying to get 8 hours of sleep, have a social life, drink enough water, eat, go to school, do homework, shower, get this story out, etc. Yeah, it's tough atm. **_I really need to make a timetable for this... __**Heck yeah ya do, Logic**__!_

**So I'll see you all soon hopefully. **

**Bye all!**

**LunaPikazard. **

**_Creativity, Logic, BEHAVE! Don't make me come in there!_**


	6. Friends?

**Welcome back to My Band everyone! Sorry I've taken so long to get this out again, I'm still working on making a schedule for these. Also, I have loads of homework already, so this year may be a bit harder to keep up with. Also, since this is options year, I'm gonna be under a whole lot more pressure pretty soon. But yeah. I will at least get these out during things like half term, spring break, winter break, etc. Because I really set myself into swing during the six weeks summer holidays between school years, I didn't really think about what would happen when school started up again, and I'd planned to only release "Help her!", nothing else, and then never write anything on here again until the next six weeks, etc. **

**But we can all see that that didn't happen! :D**

**So yeah. Anyway, here's the new chapter of My Band. (I thought this was only the third! How is this the sixth chapter?!)**

Jay walks through New Ninjago City once more, gazing at his shoes. He doesn't look up until raised voices get his attention, one of which he recognises.

"Lucas, just leave me alone. Please." Nya's voice rings through the air, and Jay can feel the exasperation in her tone. Thoughts enter his head, memories of the times that that exact tone was used on him, and a shiver rolls down his spine while secret tears of nostalgia prick at his eyes.

Determined to not let them show, Jay closes his eyes for a few seconds before turning to face Nya and the man, Lucas, that she was talking to. Sure enough, Nya is there, not surrounded by her band for once, with her black band hoodie on and ripped black jeans, which are complimented by black boots. She has her arms crossed on her chest, though they don't appear to be as tight as she normally winds them when she's mad. The guy sighs before mumbling something about what Jay hears as a smoulder. He raises his head again with a pout on his lips, his head at an angle and a look in his eyes. Nya doesn't break.

"Fine. But remember," Lucas replies, sounding tired. "I'm always only a phone call away if you need me." A light smile plays at the corners of Nya's lips as she turns and walks away, leaving Lucas alone in the streets of New Ninjago City.

Making sure that the guy can't see him, Jay follows Nya, keeping a low profile as they approach one of the bridges connecting New Ninjago City to another part of the Realm over a rushing river.

Nya stops near the middle of the bridge, laying her hands over the edge, her wrists resting comfortably on the metal railing. She stares off into the distance, and Jay finds himself wondering what could be crossing her mind, wondering if he is involved in it. After all, for him it happens all the time, even at the quarter after one when he's all alone and needing someone now.

Nya's arms tense up, and Jay bites his lip. _Nononononononono. _

However, Nya remains stock-still, gazing into space, a dreamy look on her face, her deep brown eyes glazing over. A single tear falls from her left eye. _NONONONONONONONONONONO._

Nya blinks herself back to reality, and Jay takes one step closer.

"Nya." He calls out subconsciously, his voice a lot louder than he had meant it to be. Nya jumps and flings her head over her left shoulder to face him, before rapidly bowing her head, focusing on the rushing waves beneath the bridge.

"Jay." She acknowledges his presence without taking her eyes off the water. Jay contintues forward, once again ignoring the blaring alarms in his mind. He only stops when he is directly next to her, copying her stance, leaning his arms against the cold metal railing, which sends small shivers through their lengths. His very being seems to have its temperature drained, and Jay can feel his body getting cooler, though from the water or from the metal, he doesn't know. Nya quickly shoots him a sideways look, returning her gaze to the rolling waves below just as fast as she moved it from them. Every nerve in the boy's body stands on edge, his muscles in his arms and legs ready to react to anything, should he need to run from an outburst, rush forward to comfort Nya, or even pull her back from the side of the bridge. After all, it's impossible to know what will happen next in life.

Maybe that's why Nya hates it at this moment in time.

She leans forward, resting all of her weight on the railing, which creaks metallically against the pressure of her body and the breeze blowing through their hair. Her side-swept bangs flap around lightly, barely lifting from her face, still partially obscuring her right eye. Her left, meanwhile, Jay can see clearly, and he can identify a mix of emotions, thoughts, feelings and memories in their chocolatey depths.

Nya soon stands straight again and turns, heading back to the end of the bridge, the same side she entered it on. Jay watches her go before following her silently. Unintentionally, she leads him back into the main body of New Ninjago City, through crowds of people, past different stores and strangers waving to each other from across the street. Nya soon merges into the crowd, and Jay loses her once more.

Sighing, he steps aside, allowing people to pass him as he leans on the glass floor-to-ceiling window of a store. He glances to his right, noticing a poster for a new band. Smiling, Jay pulls his phone from his jeans pocket, unlocking it and opening the Ninjoogle search app. He copies the website on the poster, carefully entering each letter, number and other character with precision. The URL takes him to a website, where he books tickets, four of them. The old team could, most likely, like some time together again, away from the stresses of their new lives without each other to lean on. Jay sends a single message on their old group chat, telling them all a time and place to meet. Smiling, Jay slips his phone back into his pocket and walks away, vanishing into the parades of people in the streets. _Now to find Nya again._

Nya hurries through the people in the streets, heading for the noodle house in the heart of the city. No one even bats an eye as she passes, despite her music playing in shops and some recordings of her concerts on the tv screens of one's window. _What did you expect? You're not exactly well-known or anything. Even in your Samurai days, everyone overlooked you. _Her thoughts slam into her, hard. Tears stab at her eyes, though she'd rather die than let them spill. Then again, wouldn't she rather die than have a lot of things happen?

What's so bad about dying?

Finally, on the other side of the main square, Nya spots her destination - Master Chen's Noodle House. Smiling slightly, Nya pushes open the doors and steps inside, scanning the shop for her... friend?

"Nya!" Her familiar voice calls across the restaurant, and Nya turns to face the counter. Sure enough, behind it, her red hair visible from the other side of the room, is Skylor. She waves to Nya, who walks through the tables and chairs to arrive next to the girl in amber.

"Hey Skylor." Nya replies. Skylor's face immediately gets the look that Nya hates, that one look that suggests that the girl knows the truth behind the smile.

"What's wrong this time? I swear, sometimes things eat you up more than the people of Ninjago eat the noodles from this damn place." Skylor smiles a bit at the end, and Nya can't stop the grin that spreads across her face. _Damn it. _

"I thought you liked working here?" She asks, eyeing Skylor suspiciously. The redhead shrugs her shoulders, one eyebrow raised partially.

"I'd like to work here if it wasn't forced, and I'd love to work here if I could actually run the place without my dad constantly watching over my shoulder. I just want to actually _run _the place." Nya nods, understanding perfectly. After all, she had been similar not too long ago. That's why she had become Samurai X in the first place - she wanted to actually be her own hero, not live in someone else's shadow, following commands of others all the time. "Anyway, I can tell you're not here for a chat. What's wrong?" Skylor quickly picks the thread back up, and Nya sighs inwardly.

"It's complicated. Now isn't the time. Later." Nya replies, shooting a glance towards the door even as more people stream into the restaurant. "For now though, do you want some help for your shift?" Skylor nods appreciatingly, and Nya swings herself over the counter. Skylor soon retreats into the kitchen, and Nya runs the counter and till for a few hours.

Yeah, they are friends.

Or so Nya hopes.

**So that was that! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and if you noticed any references I made! Also, Dyphen, no, I didn't reference all of those musicians, I just meant that from then on, references will be made, possibly quite commonly. Sorry, I could have made that a bit clearer. Credit to you if you got the reference to Need You Now by Lady Antebellum, that reference was pretty forced to be honest, it just didn't work without it, and I felt that it would kinda fit more with Jay's non-emo personality compared to Nya's new emo one. So yeah, that's that. **

**I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter, and don't worry, I have plenty of stories on the way. Well, I say 'stories', what I _mean _are 'rarepair oneshots'. Basically, I did a poll on my WhatsApp with my friends, asking them all to choose a 'cursed' ship and vote for it. Kai x Nya got the most votes, so will be coming first, followed closely by Greenflame I think. I'll make those into a one-shot collection, but first I need plot ideas for those two. If any of you have ideas for either Kai x Nya (which I have nicknamed 'Incest' for reasons that I hope are obvious) or Greenflame, please don't hesitate to leave them in the reviews on your way out or PM me with them. **

**Thanks for reading everyone!**

**Hopefully, those rarepairs and more will be coming soon, so I should be back with more shit-posts. Also, I have more actual stories on the way, so stay *ahem* _tooned_ *ahem* for those. **

**(That was a cartoon pun. I'm sorry.)**

**Anyway, see you all soon!**

**So long and goodnight!**

**_OH FRICK WHAT HAVE I DONE I'M SO SORRY EVERYONE WHO GETS THAT REFERENCE I SWEAR I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T MEAN IT ARGHHHHHH!!!! *g-note intensifies* ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!_**

**_-_LunaPikazard**


	7. Concert

**I know this is kinda soon after the previous chapter, so not many people have proabaky read that yet, but HH! only came out earlier, WAH isn't what I wanna write right now, and SF hasn't been saved onto my laptop, which is my main writing platform during the day now, and I'm using my phone at the moment, and My Band is just getting good, so I'm gonna update this again. Also, I feel like there's a matter of importance in Dyphen's review that I wanna get clear. **

**Review replies: (and general notes for everyone)**

**Dyphen: _NO THEY ARE NOT DATING!_**

**Sorry, I just had to get that in the clear. No, Nya and Lucas are _not _a thing. Sorry, but no. ****And I'm already picturing emo Jay. It is hilarious, but really out of character for him lmao.**

**Okay, My Band chapter seven. Shit started going _down_ in the previous chapter, so here, shit's gonna go down _further_. If you can believe it. **

**(It does, so believe it.)**

**Anyway, I'm gonna get into a rambling stream in a second, even though I don't know what to ramble about until the end of the chapter, and _that _ramble will be _nothing _to do with this story, but still, so here's the seventh chapter of My Band. **

The sun hangs low in the sky as Jay walks into the open-air arena. He throws his gaze around the place, spotting Kai, Lloyd and Cole all in one seating section. Lloyd waves to him, a smile plastered on his face, and Jay sighs as he walks over to them, nearly starting to regret his decision. _Why didn't I just come on my own?_

Jay sits down in silence as more people enter the arena.

"I heard this place sold out within a day." Lloyd speaks up, awkwardly trying to break the silence. "You're lucky you could get four tickets before they all ran out, Jay." Jay nods in agreement, still not daring himself to say a word; Cole and Kai seem to share his point of view.

It doesn't take long for the arena to fill up, and Jay's social anxiety starts to kick in. The walls seem to press down on him, and the people seem to crowd around him, squeezing him to a pulp. Jay soon feels a kind hand land firmly on his right shoulder, and he whips around to see Lloyd holding it tightly, smiling gently. Jay quickly returns the gesture, standing and excusing himself from the table to find a quieter space near the back of the arena, since everyone seemed to want to get as close to the stage as possible without the security guards scolding them coldly. Finally, Jay reaches the back, and leans against the cool metal wall, which pricks at the back of his neck like frozen needles. He's never welcomed the feeling as much as he does now.

It's five minutes until a male announcer's voice booms out over the stadium, announcing the band.

"Everyone, please welcome..." his voice drops out, and the entire crowd goes silent from anticipation. "Spin Harmony!" The band's name is met by cheers and shouts, and Jay feels his stomach sink further. _Why did I think this was a good idea?! Wait, wasn't that the name of tmhe dance group we were in back when we had to stop Pythor from getting the Fang Blades?_

"Wait, wasn't that the name of the dance group the four of us formed when we had to stop Pythor from getting the four Fang Blades?" Someone else's voice just manages to reach Jay's ears, and his eyes flick open to find Cole and Kai looking at each other and shrugging their shoulders simultaneously as Lloyd says Jay's name, trying to bring him back to reality.

"That's what I thought!" He shouts to Cole and Kai, who shift their gaze to him. "Me, you two, and..." Jay can't bring himself to say the fourth member's name, not again, but the other three nod in unison, solemn looks upon their faces once more.

On the stage, six people, all in hoodies with their hoods flipped up, stand at intervals. There is a large space in the middle, until a seventh person in a plain black hoodie drops from the top bars above the stage, flipping as they fall. Their hood somehow remains obscuring their face. The person in the amber hoodie slings a guitar around their neck, while the one in the dark blue hoodie takes their place behind the drum kit. The two in the white hoodies take their places at the front of the stage, standing as if one was the other's reflection in a mirror. The other two, one in blood red and the other in dark green, both also grab guitars, standing on the far sides of the stage. The two in white drop down onto a lower part of the stage, standing on the front corners, backs to the screaming crowd. They lay their hands at the bases of their backs and hold their heads down. The one in amber stands near the back of the right hand side of the higher part of the stage from the audience's perspective, while the drummer hides in the opposite one behind their kit, a dark blue shadow holding light brown drumsticks. The two in scarlet and emerald stand at the front of the raised part of the stage, towering over the two in white hoodies, and hold their guitars at the ready, standing on the edges of the corners. Meanwhile, the one in the black hoodie grips a microphone and holds it close to their face, which the lights are careful to avoid lighting up. The singer holds their head down, much like the two in white. The drums start to kick in, and the three on guitars pluck at the strings once before the one in black starts to speak.

"Thank you all for coming here tonight!" Their voice rings out over the shouting crowd, and they all immediately silence themselves, hanging onto every word the mysterious person speaks. Their voice sounds familiar to Jay, though he can't tell why. "This is the first time we've performed live as a band, and it's just incredible to know that all of our tickets got sold in about a day, so thank you all for that. It really helps. In more ways than one. So without any further ado, let's have our first song of the night, shall we?" Their voice is met by cheers, shouts and whistles as the crowd goes crazy once again, yelling names for song requests and trying to get the band to hear their encouragement. The drums take a steady beat, and the one in amber starts to play their guitar, the other two guitarists keeping quiet for now. The singer leaps into their song, and Jay finds himself cheering with the crowd around him. _Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea. Forget the other three, _I _could use a break! _He laughs quietly to himself as the song continues, the singer launching into the pre-chorus strongly.

_"Singin' 'I am your worst, I am your worst nightmare. I am your worst, I am your worst nightmare'. If you knew, knew what the bluebirds sing at you, you would never sing along! Cast them out, 'cos this is our culture. These new flocks are nothing but vultures!" _Jay's ears get filled with the chorus, even as the crowd around him shouts it back at the band on the stage, the two in the white hoodies dancing along in a complicated, complex routine that fits the song perfectly in Jay's opinion. _"'Cos they took our love and they filled it up, filled it up with novocaine and now I'm just numb! Now I'm just numb!" _The crowd scream louder and louder as the chorus gets repeated at them, and Jay finds himself singing along the best he can without really knowing the rest of the chorus. Until the final line of it comes out of the singer's mouth. _"I don't feel a thing for you!" _The line hits his heart hard, and it slams against his ribs before collapsing as he remembers his previous love. _You didn't deserve her anyway. No wonder she preferred him. _Jay shakes his head in annoyance and regret, sorrow filling his fallen heart. He misses her. He misses what they had. His thoughts scream at him as he tumbles down into a chair nearby. _She doesn't feel a thing for you! _

"Not anymore." Jay whispers to himself, his face sinking. Tears stab at his eyes once more, and he brushes at them, determined to stay strong, much like she did the whole time. _She tried to hide it from me. She knew it'd tear me up. She didn't say it in the first place. Pixal did. _Jay's broken heart twists with pain, a lust for revenge and anger. _Pixal ruined what I had. No, she would never mean to do that. Yeah, but Nya probably never meant to find out that _Cole _is her perfect match, not me like we all thought. Yet she did. You can't blame her for that. You can't blame either of them. Neither meant harm. _Jay's thoughts tumble over each other, and the song passes without Jay even noticing. Until the final bar of music ends, ringing out in the open air of the arena, echoing into the night. The guitar is soon stifled by the person in amber, and the crowd goes wild again, cheering, screaming, shouting. The lead singer speaks up again, a laugh tinting their voice slightly.

"Thank you, thank you all, thank you so much. Okay, that was one of our new songs, Novocaine, and now, this is an older one, Devils Don't Fly!"

The crowd erupts into cheers once more, and Jay taps his fingers on the table to his right, along to the drum beat. The song is followed by another new one, One Step Closer, which sets the crowd into hysterics. Everyone screams the song back at the band, and the lead singer can barely keep the joy out of their voice as they sing it. The chorus is rough and shouted, and focuses on how the narrator gets put on edge by what the other person says, and how the narrator feels they are 'about to break'. Jay understands fully how the narrator feels, his mind flinging memories at him, the time before Techno Wu attacked his old home, the junkyard, when he and Cole had been at each other's throats, quite literally. The memories slam hard into his mind, and his eyes cloud over once more.

The song finally finishes, and Jay swears he can hear another effect in the singer's voice - not joy and laughter anymore, now it seems like sadness and tears, sobs racking their body and words.

The concert continues for a few hours, and Jay only pays attention to the names of songs and a few snippets of the actual music. The band performs ones they called What I've Done, Numb, Story Of My Life, Helena, and Car Radio. After Car Radio, the singer stops to regain their breath, speaking into microphone weakly.

"Thank you all for your appreciation. Now, this is one that I'm sure lots of you will know, and I'm sorry for doing this to you all, but you're gonna have to hear the g note. This is Welcome To The Black Parade!" The second the lead singer finishes their announcement, a piano note is heard, crystal clear in the stadium, and a few people shout out as if in pain, and some even start to cry. One boy with a purple patchwork jacket and dyed purple bangs sobs next to Jay, grabbing his jacket sleeves and pulling them down his arms to cover his hands even as he shoves one hand into a pocket in his skinny jeans. He pulls out an eyeliner pencil and surrounds his eyes with the black lead. Many others do the same in the arena, even as their tears make the makeup run. The singer even seems to start tearing up, their voice shaking as they belt out a slow intro to the song.

"He said, 'hun when, you grow up, would you be, the saviour of the broken, the beaten, and the damned?' He said, 'will you, defeat them, your demons, and all the non-believers, the plans that they have made? Because one day, I'll leave you, a phantom, to lead you in the summer...'" The lead singer's voice is met by every other voice in the arena, even those from the team behind the stage and the others in band, except Jay's, Kai's, Lloyd's and Cole's, their united voices booming out into the night, causing birds to fly from their perched into the sky from nearby trees. A colony of bats squeak amongst the birds.

"TO JOIN THE BLACK PARADE!"

The rest of the song picks up in speed and tone, it seems to Jay, and it passes in a blur of tears, drinks and shouts for the ex-Lightning Ninja. He cheers with the rest of the crowd as another song starts on the guitar in the hands of the person in the amber hoodie.

"Unfortunately, ladies, gentlemen and non-binary friends, this is our final song tonight." The crowd boos miserably, and Jay finds himself joining in despite himself. "This is Mama!" The lead singer finishes their sentence as the other guitars kick in, the drums slowly adding their input as well as the dancers in the white hoodies slowly get down onto their knees, heads bowed solemnly.

_"Mama, we all go to Hell." _The lead singer starts, and the entire crowd is silent - the song must be brand new. _"Mama we all go to Hell. I'm writing this letter and wishing you well. Mama, we all go to Hell. Oh well now, Mama, we're all gonna die-ie. Mama, we're all gonna die! Stop asking me questions, I'd hate to see you cry! Mama, we're all gonna die. _

_And when we go, don't blame us, yeah! We'll let he fires just bathe us, yeah-eah! You made us oh-so famous, we'll never let you... go, oh, oh! And when you go, don't return, to me, my love." _The crowd starts to stamp their feet in time to the music, and the singer's voice drops again. _"Mama, we're all full of lies. Mama, we're meant for the flies. And right now, they're building, a _coffin your size! _Mama, we're all full of lies." _The singer takes a deep breath and belts out the next part of the song. _"Well, mother, what the war did to my legs and to my tongue. I should have been a better girl, you should have raised another son! If you can coddle the infection," _The lead singer's voice collided with one other from the band, and Jay guesses that it's the lead guitarist's. _"They can amputate at once! I should have been, you should have raised another son!" _The guitarist drops their voice again, and their guitar kicks back in, twice as strong as before. The chorus rings out again, followed by another verse, before the song seems to drop like a dead fly. A different voice, not from the guitaris or the lead singer, speaks normally. "And if you would call me your sweetheart... I'd maybe then sing you a song." The lead singer then shouts the next line. _"But the shit that I've done with this fuck of a gun, you would _cry out your eyes** all night! **_We're," _the voices of the other members all join the lead singer's one last time. _"Damned after all! Through fortune and flame, we fall! And if you can say then I'll show you, the way! You return from the ashes you call! We... all carry on, though our partners in arms are gone, so raise your glass high, for tomorrow, we die and return from the ashes you call!" _The lead singer collapses onto the stage, falling to their knees, and sobs, their body shaking every second. The lead guitarist flings their guitar out of the way and drops to comfort the lead singer, who looks to be nothing more than a small, broken, black human-shaped blob on the stage, sobbing into the guitarist's shoulder. The drummer abandons their drum kit and signals to the stage crew to dim the lights, drop the stage curtain and calm the crowd, and all three are done, the stage being drenched in shadows before they are covered by the large red velvet curtain that had remained hidden in the top bars above the stage for the last few hours. As the curtain drops, the lead singer's voice finally rings out onenlast time, broken and tearful.

"As I said earlier tonight, 'so long and goodnight'."

The crowd sends ripples of nervous whispers and chatters through itself, and the ex-Ninja all excuse themselves from the scene, retreating to the back of the arena. The crowd is ushered out by security, and the announcer from before the show thanks the audience once more for attending the concert and apologises for what had happened.

Jay shakes from fear and confusion as he and the other ninja leave the stadium, stepping outside again.

"What the _heck _just happened back there?!" Kai exclaims, shattering the delicate silence.

"I have no clue." Cole replies, and Lloyd shrugs his shoulders silently. Jay, however, doesn't do anything. Instead, he stares off into space, wondering what the heck that was all about.

The band swarms around her, and she can't take it anymore. She stands and storms off the stage, running from her friends, her family, her fears, her sorrows, her regrets. Running from life.

Her name is called out from behind her, but she doesn't look back; she needs to get out of here. Her eyes fog over, and she can't see anything until a blob of amber, larger than she is, grabs her and holds her tight to itself. She melts into its tight hold, and the blob gently pats the back of her head. She sobs, needing to be freed of everything.

"Help me." She whispers weakly, too scared to say much more. "Please, help me."

With that, the world turns black and she falls to the cold, hard wooden floor behind the stage.

**A/N: so, I hope you all enjoyed that new chapter! Now, I know what y'all are probably thinking, and that's 'WHAT THE HECK?!', and possibly things like 'is she okay?' or even, 'who even is she?!'. Don't worry, that should be answered in the next chapter. **

**I did tell you all, shit was about to go even further down, and hopefully, it'll still go further in the next chapter. I know exactly how that's gonna go, so hopefully it won't be too long until that's up and running too. For now though, this is the newest chapter. Sorry this one is so much longer than the others, most of it is just songs I think. But yeah, the ninja all actually went to this concert. The next chapter will also take place before season four actually takes place, but the one after that may actually be after ToE. I don't know, I'll specify at the start of the chapter, but one of them will be after Tournament of Elements.**

**Okay, so what is the ramble I was talking about at the start of this chapter? Well, it's a spoiler for season 11, so if you're not up to date on that season, don't read this bit! Unless you want spoilers and theories. If you don't, I'll see you on the flip side! **

**If you're still here, then prepare yourself for a theory and some spoilers, unless you've already seen the episodes I'm about to talk about. Then this isn't a spoiler. **

**Okay, so here's my theory. **

**At the start of the Ice Chapter of season 11, we see that the Ice Emperor kinda rules over the Never Realm and has a prisoner. Big deal, whatever. Well, yes actually, this could be a big deal! So, at first, many people were probably thinking that the Ice Emperor is some new villain that the ninja are gonna have to face, and the prisoner was someone like Zane or even Lord Garmadon, cos who knows what happened to him after season ten, which is the last time we saw him I think. **

**However, what if the opposite is true? Kinda? Let me explain. **

**Let's start from Akita's story. **

**We find out in the episode 'Secret of the Wolf' that Red the Wolf is actually Akita, the last of the Formlings, a race of... people?... who live in the Never Realm. We see that Akita and her brother, Kataru, has to leave their home village to find their animal forms, which they do. Akita finds her wolf form and Kataru finds his bear form. So, they race each other home, but Akita tells Kataru to head home alone, because she's going for one more run. So they do. Then she sees the Ice Emperor's dragon fly past, heading towards her village after Vex's warning. So Akita races back, and finds everyone frozen. She gets ready to face the Ice Emperor and Vex, but Kataru in his bear form defends her, even as the Ice Dragon attacks. We don't see Kataru frozen in the Ice like the other Formlings, in fact we don't see him anywhere.**

**Until (I think) the next episode. We see the Ice Dragon fly past the moon, and we can see the prison cell that holds the Ice Emperor's prisoner. And we see, if your brightness is high enough, a million and three tally marks on the walls (not literally, it's a saying). So the prisoner has clearly been in there for ages. Now, there's an argument that the prisoner is Zane, and that time works differently in the Never Realm, which is why there are so many tally marks, but I have a different idea to fight that one. **

**Since that sheer number of days simply couldn't have passed yet, even if time does work differently in the Never Realm, and the prisoner has completely different hair to Zane. I realise that hair isn't a lot to go off of, but with Lego, it's kinda necessary to look at everything we possibly can for evidence. However, who else could his hair piece be similar to? Also, who could have been in that jail cell for that long? That's right. **

**Akita's brother, Kataru. **

**But then, who would the Ice Emperor be? Simples. It _is _Zane, as the theories suggest. However, it's isn't Zane as we know him. I kinda like the idea of, I think, TannerFishies, who is a Ninjago YouTube personality, which said that Vex had possibly enchanted Zane or something to make him bend to his will, so that Vex could have some authority over the Never Realm. This would also explain why the Ice Emperor seems to do most of what Vex tells him to, and why he has he Ice powers he possesses. So yeah, that's one theory for who the Ice Emperor could be. Also, it could even be, at a stretch, possibly Echo Zane, or Mr E in season 8. I know that only Jay and Nya would know about Echo, who was in the lighthouse in season six, and it's said that Echo became Mr E, who was destroyed in Hunted (season nine) by Lord Garmadon. However, what if, somehow, Mr E's body or even just a microchip or something got to the Never Realm? Maybe Zane had part of Mr E's old hard-drive or something in his systems, and it was taken from him when Vex found him in the Never Realm? Then he took Zane's power and gave it to Mr E, who now uses it to freeze people alive and whatnot. **

**I realise that the Ice Emperor thoeries are a little loose, but I think the one about Kataru being the prisoner is kinda solid if you ask me. Those are just theories though. Not even Game Theories. **

**Oh well. I hope you all have your own ideas to who the Ice Emperor and his prisoner are, and if you want to share them, you can leave them in the reviews or message me and we can discuss them if you want to!**

**Anyways, I have to go now. **

**_THE SPOILER THEORIES ARE DONE NOW! IF YOU WANTED TO SKIP PAST THEM, YOU CAN STOP SKIPPING NOW!_**

**I'm guessing no one needed that. Oh well. **

**I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you all soon with a new one, hopefully. But yeah, next chapter, things get even darker, and shit goes down somehow even more than this one XD**

**See you all soon! Thanks for reading!**

**If you want to review on your way out, feel free to do so. **

**Bye everyone!**

**-LunaPikazard**

**Song credits:**

(In order of mention/ performance)

**Novocaine - Fall Out Boy (American Beauty/ American Psycho)**

**Devils Don't Fly - Natalia Kills (Trouble)**

**One Step Closer - Linkin Park (Hybrid Theory)**

**What I've Done - Linkin Park (Minutes To Midnight)**

**Numb - Linkin Park (Meteora)**

**Story Of My Life - One Direction (Midnight Memories, I know that one's old, but that's how I imagine Nya apologising to Jay and confessing what she did in Rebooted, so please don't hate me)**

**Helena - My Chemical Romance (Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge)**

**Car Radio - Twenty Øne Piløts (Vessel)**

**Welcome To The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance (The Black Parade)**

**Mama - My Chemical Romance (The Black Parade)**

**By the way, fellow MCR fans, I know the actually line is 'son when you grow up', but that's the point of the line change. It's a hint. *insert Lenny face* Also, the same goes for any other lyric changes, especially in Mama too. So yeah, Mama and Welcome to the Black Parade both had lyric changes to better fit the story. **


	8. “Baby Don’t Cut”

**I realise this may be breaking my streak a bit, with the newest chapter update being for the story that was updated the longest ago, but this story is reaching its climax, and I just wanna get this out. **

**So, welcome, everyone, to chapter 8 of My Band!**

**Shit's been going down _hard _in the past two episodes or so, and it may get even deeper in this chapter. Oh, who am I trying to kid? It's gonna get a lot deeper in this chapter. **

**So, without any further ado, _strap in._**

**_WARNING!_**

**_This chapter gets rather graphic and descriptive as I've been told in an early review, and I have read this again and agreed. Apologies to anyone who read the earlier version, but here is now a quick warning. _**

**_Proceed with caution, or go onto the next chapter where I will place a quick non-graphic summary of this chapter. _**

**_Thank you. _**

Jay switches his phone off, sliding it back into the pocket of his jacket. He raises his gaze again and sees, on the other side of the street, Nya. The guy he'd seen her with a few days beforehand, Lucas, walks behind her, keeping close. Out of habit and instinct, Jay follows them, and they accidentally lead him to the other side of Ninjago City. Maintaining his distance, Jay never lets them leave his sight. Nya brushes her bangs aside gently and says something over her shoulder, and Lucas laughs to himself. Jay's heart throbs as he follows them.

Lucas and Nya soon separate, and Jay smiles. _This is it. _

"Nya!" He calls out. Nya flinches and throws her head over her shoulder, finding Jay running up to her. Again. _Geez, can't a girl catch a break?_

"Hi Jay." She replies, not looking him in the face. Instead, she keeps her eyes down. She likes to sit around and gaze at her shoes. Jay reaches her side and the two attempt at conversation again.

Within five minutes, Jay gently takes Nya's hand causing her to recoil again. He doesn't care. He takes the ends of her fingers into his palm and gently leads her in a specific direction. Silently, she follows, albeit reluctantly.

The two walk for twenty minutes, not a single word leaving their lips. Jay finally smiles to her over his shoulder before opening the door to an apartment building. He escorts Nya to one of the rooms.

As Jay opens the door, she takes a deep breath. _This isn't going to be easy. _

Before her, stand Kai, Cole and Lloyd. The three all stand at intervals in the room, evenly spaced apart. Jay stands behind her, blocking her route to the door. To her left, Kai crosses his arms at her, while Cole puts his hands on his hips to her right. Lloyd just stands still, back straight, directly in front of her. Nya frantically throws her gaze around the room, flicking from one face to another.

"Guys..." her voice spikes with the nerves and anxiety, which fall on deaf ears. Again. "What's going on?" Their faces remain blank, and Nya bites her lip nervously.

"You've been distant." Lloyd speaks up first. "You isolate yourself at home, and act like you'd rather be anywhere else when you _do _leave you room. We hardly see you anywhere, but you're always alone when you do go out."

"Not to mention you're always ignoring any messages on the group chats, any calls we send or any individual messages." Kai points out. Nya bites her lip harder, nearly drawing blood.

"We're just worried about you." Jay continues, his voice gentle. "That's all. Aren't we allowed to worry about a friend?" Now she really does draw blood from her lip. The liquid oozes from a slit on her bottom lip, tasting metallic on her tongue. She doesn't even flinch at the pain.

"You don't need to worry about me." She replies, stubborn as ever. "Trust me. I can handle myself anyway." She shakes her head gently, still refusing to move her eyes from their focus on the floor. "Can I go now?"

"No." Jay takes a few steps forward, and Nya turns to face him, dread settling in her stomach. She crosses her arms tightly over her chest, grateful for her long sleeves and jeans.

"Nya," Lloyd's voice cuts through the air, even as the other ninja start to close in on her. "You need to learn to trust us again. What's going on? What's eating you?"

"Nothing!" She shouts, whipping around to face Lloyd, only thinking about her actions too late. Regret and sorrow creep into her bones for snapping at who used to be her closest friend a few months ago. Lloyd recoils as if she had slapped him, and a tear stabs at her eye, though she refuses to let it fall. _Not another one. Not so soon. _She turns again and moves to push past Jay. That move alone is a mistake.

Jay grabs her arm as she passes, yanking her sleeve up in the process. Nya pulls her wrist free, exposing the flesh. Gasps echo through the group as each pair of eyes lands upon her skin. Nya reluctantly looks down at them. Her scars.

Jay gasps as he realises what he's done. He's exposed Nya. And her wrists... what has happened to her?

The skin is red, with long, thin lines running through them. There are so many, up and down her forearm. Nya tries to pull the sleeve back down, but Cole grabs her wrist. Mistake. Nya flinches and yelps like a pained animal. Jay realises why.

One of the lines is still red, with a fresh scab over it. Moving slowly, Jay slides the other sleeve up her left arm. It too has been covered by marks. Each ninja raises their eyes to Nya's, though she tries her hardest to keep them planted on the floor.

"Nya!" Kai can barely get his voice above a hurt whisper. "Why? Why would you do this to yourself?" No reply. Lloyd, Cole and Jay all try to push on at her, but Nya snaps.

"Because I want to die!" She yells, pulling her wrists free and sprinting away from the boys. They all turn and race after her as she opens the door to the room and tears down the corridor. She leaps down the stairs, with Jay hot on her ankles, him being the fastest of the ninja. They race through the building, Nya tugging at her sleeves, trying to cover up her failures. Before long, though, she realises that there's no point in covering them _now_.

No, they're out there now. Might as well let them see what she's devolved into.

Let them poke fun. Let them take the piss. Let them know that they've caused all this.

She's knows they won't mourn her.

No one even knows who she is.

After all, all those people in that arena that night weren't there for her, they were there for the new Spin Harmony.

She zips past streams of people, not even stopping to regain her breath. Her legs scream at her to stop or at least slow down so that they can lose this pain, but she simply embraces the aching. Sure it hurts, but that will be nothing compared to the pain she'll feel in a second.

Jay runs on fell metal behind her, desperate to catch her before she can do anything. Kai, Lloyd and Cole are all to far behind him now. It's all up to him.

He puts on one final spurt of speed, just oanaging to grab Nya's fingertips as she runs towards one of the hundreds of alleys in New Ninjago City. She comes to an abrupt stop, pulled back by the boy behind her. She spins around, ripping the razor blade from her pocket. Jay gasps as he sees the metal shine in the sunlight.

"Nya..." his voice is broke from emotion, shock and his pants for air. "Please... don't do this... you don't have to... please Nya..." She shakes her head, tesrs springing to her eyes.

"What was it you said that day, back at the junkyard? You know, when Pixal told you?" She asks, and Jay's stomach sinks. "Oh yes, I remember. 'I don't know you, and I don't want to, 'til the moment your eyes open and you know.' Well, I think I know now, Jay." Nya's voice cracks with the sobs that shake her body from head to toe. Slowly, step by step, she backs further into the alleyway, the shadows from the sinking sun falling over half of her body. "I now know how the world works. It beats you down and around, through every mood. You know, survival of the fittest and all that." Nya slowly lifts the blade, and Jay's breath catches in his throat. _Don't do it! _Tears pour steadily from Nya's eyes, and each one pains Jay.

"Where is the person that I know?" He asks, dreading Nya's reply. Even she doesn't see it coming.

"They must have left!" She shouts, before her voice drops from sorrow. "They must have left with all my faith." Jay's eyes overflow too, and the two cry together though apart. "I don't want this isolation..." Nya whispers in the broken silence, before pressing the blade to her wrist. Jay reaches his arm out to stop her, but Nya takes a step back for every time he leans forward. "So long, and goodnight." With that, Nya pulls the razor blade towards her, and it tears jaggedly through her skin, which instantly flares up, scarlet blood immediately rising to the surface. She makes one cut, two cuts, three cuts, four, all in rapid succession. The tears flow freely from both their eyes as she sways. Jay lunges forward and catches her even as her legs give way and the razor slips from her hand, driving thin slits through her fingers. Jay collapses to the ground, holding Nya tightly in his arms, trying to find something to wrap Nya's wrist in. The other three ninja come racing into the mouth of the alley, and all three cry out when they see the sight before them. Jay sobs uncontrollably as he yells at the other three to call an ambulance. Lloyd does, and thevehicle arrives in two minutes.

Two paramedics rush out and take Nya into the back of the ambulance. None of the ninja are allowed to ride with her, so all run beside it, sprinting through the city to the hospital in the main square. The paramedics rush Nya in and the doctor calls emergency, while the ninja take seats in the waiting room, their thoughts and feelings in complete turmoil.

Jay cries endlessly for a length of time that only the First Spinjitzu Master knows, refusing to give up on hope for Nya. After what feels like eternity, a nurse comes into the waiting room and calls the ninja into a separate room.

"Please excuse me for the words that I'm about to say." The nurse begins, and Jay's sobbing increases. Kai can feel the tears stab at his eyes, while Cole and Lloyd each have a few already rolling down their cheeks. "You are all very lucky. Your friend is alive." Jay, Lloyd and Kai all sqeak, while Cole gasps, putting his hands over his mouth rapidly.

"You're joking!" Lloyd exclaims, though no one hopes he is. The nurse shakes her head. The boys erupt into hysterics, their voices meddling together to form one big bubble of noise. The nurse holds her hands up to try to calm the boys down, but to no prevail.

"When can we go in and see her?" Jay asks when the chatter dies down. This time, the nurse's expression becomes troubled.

"I don't know." She replies. "Your friend lost a lot of blood, and she is in intense care, and will most likely require therapy after this to help her through whatever led her to this point, but I'm hoping that it shouldn't be too long. She is, currently, unconscious and under anaesthetic however. I can guarantee that she is being looked after well. After that, though, it may be up to all of you guys to help her out a bit though. We will do all that we can, but after that..."

"We understand." Lloyd replies, smiling weakly, still shocked by the news. Understandably.

Two days later, Jay and Kai head to the hospital to see Nya. She is finally awake, and they are the first to go see her. Kai leaves after two hours of catching up and filling Nya in, leaving Jay alone with her.

"I'm sorry." They both speak at the same time, and they burst into laughter simultaneously.

"You first." Nya mumbles, still drowsy from the anaesthetic and blood loss. Jay shakes his head.

"You're the one who's most important right now." He replies indignantly. "Whatever you need to say is of the utmost importance. You first." Nya sighs.

"Fine. I'm sorry for what I've done. For everything. I hurt you, and I realise now how stupid I was. I let what that stupid machine said get to me, and blocked out what I already had with someone else. With you. Then I just kinda turned on you. I became cold, numb, paralysed. I did you wrong. I did everyone wrong. I was a huge jerk, and I don't know why I'm being given a second chance at life. I'm the last person who deserves one. So, if you really want to, and I get the feeling that you do, you can tell the nurses that I said to turn off the life support."

"WHAT?!" Jay shouts, standing bolt upright, his chair flipping over and landing on its back with a thud. "Nya, don't even think for a _second _that I'm gonna just let you go! I made that mistake once, I'm not making it again! You're staying with us, and I can promise, we'll make it worth it again."

"Please Jay." Nya looks up at him with melting chocolate eyes, thick tears resting on her cheeks, droplets hanging to her dark eyelashes. "Just do it. I know that deep down you want to. After I hurt you so bad. View it as revenge." Nya whispers, her voice breaking and dropping at random intervals.

"No." Jay shakes his head, tears stinging his eyes. "I'm _not _letting you go. Not again. Not ever. The First Spinjitzu Master spared your life for a reason. I am _not_ going to let anyone take it. Not even you." Jay runs his fingers through Nya's hair, and her eyes slowly drift shut, hints of a smile on her lips as she sighs contentedly, dropping into the embrace of a deep sleep.

Lucas busts into the room, and Jay springs up from his crouched position over Nya. The boy just looks past Jay, his eyes focusing on the teenage girl in the hospital bed, her wrists bandaged up tightly. Lucas takes two steps closer to Nya, care in every one. He lays his hand on the left side of Nya's head, and whispers into the silence.

"Baby I thought you made a promise that you would never cut."

**A/N: this one is probably the longest chapter in this story, and I regret _nothing_. So yeah. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. **

**Since it is now three in the morning here in the UK, I'm gonna have to quote Helena by My Chemical Romance here, though I don't intend mine to be my final words. Not right now anyway. **

**But yeah, since it's three in the morning, I wish to say a few words. **

**So long, and goodnight. **

**-LunaPikazard**


	9. Apologies

**Oof I'm back. **

**Congratulations to anyone who managed to read the entirety of the previous chapter - things got way too deep way too quick. I'm sorry. Also, massive apologies to everyone who read even part of that chapter, especially you Dyphen. But then again, you've gotta get thoughts, feelings, emotions and wishes out some way, right? And what better way to try and raise awareness about depression, suicide, self-harming and all that crap that joins in halfway along the journey than to write about them! **

**Anyway, for everyone who couldn't read the previous chapter, I'm sorry again, and here's a quick recap. **

**By the way, that previous chapter had _wayyyy _too many references, so I am very sorry for that. **

**Anyway, RECAP!**

**Jay finds Nya and Lucas in New Ninjago City and follows them to the other side of town. They separate and Jay catches up to Nya. After a while he leads her to an apartment and Kai, Lloyd and Cole are all in there. They kinda gang up on Nya and she breaks, snapping at Lloyd. As she pushes past Jay to leave the room, he accidentally lifts her right sleeve to reveal scars on her wrists. Everyone snaps and Nya races out the room. Jay is mere inches behind her.**

**They leg it through the town and Nya runs into an alleyway as Jay grabs her. **

**After a kinda long monologue, and thousands of references, Nya tries one more time to end her life, only for the other ninja to turn up and call an ambulance. **

**Nya is rushed into intensive care, and Jay goes to see her two days later. Yes, she survives. Somehow. **

**She basically begs Jay to let them turn off life support and let her die, but Jay smacks that idea down and Nya falls asleep again as Jay runs his fingers through her hair to calm her down. Lucas soon bursts into the room and ignores Jay, referencing one of the final lines of Bmike's song 'Baby Don't Cut', which was one of the inspiration songs for this story. So yeah, that's where it ended. **

**Sorry, even that recap was hard to write. **

**Anyway, hopefully this chapter will be a little bit lighter. **

"Wait, what?!" Jay exclaims, causing Lucas to stare at him in shock. "You knew about this?!" Lucas brings his hand back to his body and drops his gaze to the floor.

"Yes. I knew about it. I've tried to get her into therapy as well. I've tried a thousand times. Every time she got a chance, she turned it down. I didn't know what to do. She had got me here just feeling so damn helpless. I can't even fathom how _she _must have been feeling..." He seems close to tears, and Jay extends his arm out towards the stranger, before quickly retracting it. He rights his chair and gestures to Lucas to sit down. He does, placing his elbows on his knees and burying his head in his hands. Jay stands awkwardly, watching him.

"I'm sorry." The stranger speaks up, his voice muffled by his hands. Jay cocks his head slightly.

"What for?" He asks, and Lucas raises his head.

"I should have kept a closer eye on her. I should have tried harder to help her. I should have told you. I should have —" whatever else he should have done, he would never get to say.

"No. You did all you could. So did she. I didn't help her when I should have." Jay replies, ducking his head. Lucas shakes his, still refusing to look at the boy in blue.

"Jay, you never did anything wrong." He replies.

"You... you know my name?" Jay's mind seems to implode. How does he know his name?!

"Yes." Lucas laughs slightly. "Of course I know your name. How couldn't I after how much Nya would talk about you?"

Now Jay's mind really does implode. His mouth drops, eyes wide.

"She... she talks about me? What does... what does she say?" He asks, his thoughts racing. Would she tell him about the Perfect Match machine? Or the fact that she seemed to fall for some stupid junkyard boy? Did she tell him about Cole, and how he was so much better than Jay ever could be? Wait, why would she mention him to her boyfriend—

"Yeah, she talks about you all the time. She always talks about how you're funny, kind, always the light in the room. Some of the jokes you told, she's memorised them! Even my older brother laughed at some of them, and he is _dense."_ Lucas chuckles, and Jay can't stop the smile from rising to his face.

"Wait, why would she talk about me though? I mean, to you of all people?" His thoughts escape from his mouth, and Lucas gives him an odd look.

"What do you mean?" The words have barely left his tongue before a new expression lands on his face and a grin spreads across his lips. His laughter rings out in the room, and Jay's confusion reaches new levels.

"You thought that we..." Lucas can barely compile a proper sentence without his chortles breaking his voice. "Oh man, you are even funnier than Nya gives you credit for..." he slowly stops laughing. "Nya and I are just friends. Calm down, we aren't dating or anything. She's still open to you. If you know what I mean." Lucas winks before erupting into laughter again. Jay breathes a sigh of relief before chuckling to himself as well, his laugh mixing with Lucas'.

"Oh. I thought you were..." he mumbles, and Lucas shakes his head.

The room soon dies down into a slightly uncomfortable silence, until Jay shuffles on his feet and Lucas clears his throat.

"So..." Jay speaks up, his anxiety silencing itself for a moment. "Do you know why she's... ya know... that?" He asks, jerking his head towards Nya, a sad look in his eyes while his voice is laden with unshed tears. Lucas shakes his head wearily.

"Not entirely." He replies, before taking a single deep breath. "She did tell me a couple things though, so I suppose it has something to do with those." Jay raises his eyebrows at Lucas, and the other boy takes another deep breath, interpreting the signal correctly, before launching into his speech.

"Basically, Nya once told me about some time a few months ago, back when you two were still dating. You had both been working at some new academy and you had been given permission to hold some field trip to Borg Tower. You all went, and Nya stuck with the girls of the class until some machine called Perfect Match came up." Jay bites his lip - damn, this is there it had all started? Why hadn't she said anything back then? Lucas ploughs on, oblivious to the tears in the eyes of both boys. "She stepped into the console, and some other guy popped up. Some other guy she knew. All of them freaked out, but the trip continued. As can be expected because you were pretty much all ninja back then, chaos followed you all around. The field trip was ruined and you all had to run for your lives. Nya then got really awkward around both you and that other guy, and in the end, the truth came out. And you heard. She got upset, you got upset, and the other guy got upset. You then got mad and the other guy got mad and then there was just a mess. You had to drop it, and then you had to split up and one of you had to head off with their dad. Or was that before? Either way, you nearly died, the other guy nearly died, and the Overlord came back. And one of your friends... perished." Tears stream down the cheeks of both boys, and Jay sits down on the edge of Nya's crisp white bedsheets to stop himself from falling onto the floor like a brick through the air.

"Do I have that right?" Lucas asks himself quietly, and Jay nods.

"Yep. As far as I can tell anyway. Anything else she tell you about?"

"Yeah. She sometimes brought up the stuff from when she just met you, and before all that." When Jay gives him a confused look, Lucas takes another deep breath, preparing himself for his explanation. "Basically, the fact that she had to make do with just her brother without her parents started to get to her, and then whatever she had to deal with at the hands of those skeletons she mentioned... I don't know, I didn't understand that whole skeleton thing..." Jay nods to himself, reminiscing on the earlier days. The days when Nya had been taken by the Skulkin and Kai got mad and they had to find the four Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu to save her. Those days. The days before the Overlord terrorised Ninjago, before Zane's death, before the split, before the Perfect Match, before the Green Ninja. Not to mention those days before the guys all got their True Potentials, before Jay's date with Nya, that one date that started it all. He grins to himself, ducking his head, trying to hide his emotion from Lucas. Then it hits him. Repression. Nya had been hiding her feelings. And now he's doing the same thing, albeit differently.

Lucas clears his throat once more, and Nya shifts in her bed, her eyes fluttering open again. They land on the two boys, and a small smile spreads over her face. The boys don't notice her awakening, and continue to talk rather animatedly. Until she tries to push herself up into a sitting position anyway. Then her hands slip and slide across the mattress as her arms nearly give in, her wrists shaking. She takes a sharp intake of breath, and both boys turn their heads rapidly to face her. Both shoot up from their chairs in sync, and both rush towards her. She brings her knees closer to her body, curling up into a ball, and raises her right hand to calm the boys, even as her left hand glides over the white mattress and she tumbles backwards, her head landing hard back onto her pillow. She stifles a small laugh and she can feel her cheeks starting to redden. The boys are soon chuckling too, and a few hours pass with jokes and laughter.

Two days later, Jay walks slowly up to Nya's room in the hospital, humming quietly to himself. She could be released from the pearly confinement of the hospital walls any day now, and Jay wants to be there for that day.

As he approaches the room, a voice reaches his ears, a voice he feels he recognises for some reason.

"_Isn't it lovely, all alone? Heart made of glass, my mind of stone." _A second voice soon joins the other, and they balance in a harmony, one remaining rather high and the other going rather low.

"_Tear me to pieces, skin to bone. Hello, welcome home." _Jay pauses at the door, his hand raised to knock. He waits for a few seconds, about to rap his fist against the door when the silence breaks in the room.

_"Hello," _The first voice sings, and Jay's heart aches with every syllable. For some reason. The pain in her voice, even if it is fake, tears through his mind, coursing through his blood and settling in his chest. The two voices pick up again. "_Welcome home..." _the final notes are held, and only once they come to an end does Jay knock on the door, the _tap tap tap_ping of his knuckles against the wood ringing down the corridor. Two quiet muffled voices barely reach his ears.

"Come in." Jay smiles as her voice calls out to him, and he pushes the door open. His eyes land on Lucas, who nods and smiles at him, and Nya, who sits upright in her bed and grins at him before gingerly raising a hand in greeting. Lucas shoots her a glance from the side of his eye, and Nya rolls her eyes, ignoring his caution even as she winces. Both Lucas and Jay react within a second, flinching and lunging forward slightly, even as Nya puts on an expression that says 'for real?'. The two boys blush slightly and slowly retract their hands, laughing awkwardly.

Two hours pass before Lucas rises from his chair and bids Jay and Nya farewell. He soon leaves, and Jay bites his lip as he realises that, again, it's just him and Nya, alone once more, left to wallow in uncomfortable silence. Well, normally anyway. It seems to Jay that today may be slightly different.

Nya seems to be in a surprisingly good mood, despite her wrists still throbbing slightly from waving at Jay hours ago and occasionally using them to balance or raise herself again, or reaching for a glass of water once in a while.

"So, how've they been?" Jay asks, motioning to Nya's wrapped-up wrists. She glances down at the white bandages before smiling back up at Jay with a gleam in her eyes that he hasn't seen in a long time.

"They've been getting better recently, which I guess is kinda the point." She laughs, and Jay chuckles, nodding his head slightly, his shoulders jerking up and down with each shake of laughter. "How've you been? And the others? Have you heard from them at all?" She asks, and Jay nods again.

"Yeah, I'm okay. The other guys and I, we've been talking and keeping in touch a bit better now, though I know tension is still pretty dang dang diggity dang dang high between me and Cole." He replies truthfully, biting his lip slightly as he brings his final sentence to a close. He doesn't want to be constantly arguing with his old best friend, and he can tell that Cole doesn't want to argue with him either, but they both still have _wayyyy _too much pent-up rage to let out before they can even start to become friends again, let alone the brothers they used to consider themselves to be. "But other than that, we're all okay now. Well, a bit more so than before, anyway. Or so I like to think..." Now it's Nya's turn to nod slowly.

After another hour or so of chatting, laughing, joking and catching up, Jay leaves the hospital. Nya seems to have some kind of infectious joy, and he leaves in a much better mood than he entered with, despite not finding out much about Nya's reasoning as to why she did what she did in the first place in order to get into the hospital. But Jay knows not to push it - Nya's already most likely at the end of her rope by now with everyone else interrogating her. After all, she's only human, she needs her space.

Two days later, Jay is walking down the high street on his way back to the hospital one more time. After all, what else is he supposed to do when Nya's so close to where he works and he has some spare time after the show? Then his phone rings.

Acting upon instinct and habit, Jay immediately picks it up and presses it to his ear, accepting the call without even checking who he is talking to. Thankfully, a familiar voice speaks to him through the mobile.

_"Hey, Jay, it's me, Lloyd. Can you come to the Samurai X Cave ASAP? It's kinda important." _

"Well, I'm kinda supposed to be—"

_"Come on, Jay, this is _really _important!"_

"But, I need to see—"

_"I'll message Nya to tell her you may be a bit late. She'll understand. This is important! Please!"_

Jay sighs. "Okay. I'll be there in a minute, Lloyd."

_"Thanks Jay! See you in a second!" _

The call ends rapidly, and Jay blinks in surprise, stunned for a few seconds, before turning on his heel and striding back through New Ninjago City, heading for the Cave. He arrives within minutes, only to find every other ninja, Wu, Misako and Sensei Garmadon all waiting inside for him. Lloyd greets him before beckoning the three other ninja over closer to his room. Distantly, something hits Jay's ears. A sweet voice, in a tune he doesn't recognise, sings, and it feels as though the soft tone caresses his skin as it passes him. He quietly points it out, and Cole, Lloyd and Kai freeze, listening intently. Sure enough, they hear it. Together, as silently as they can, the group of four creep closer to another door identical to Lloyd's, minus the large green L on his door, on the opposite side of the path. Their feet land on the cold, hard metal pathway without a sound, and each press one ear against the dark blue metal door next to them. Through it, an oddly familiar voice meets their ears, and Jay can feel himself smile as he listens. The voice soon slows and stops, before ringing out clearly in the room. The voice sings along to a song Jay doesn't recognise, yet he can't help but feel like he _does _know the voice.

"I got your picture, I'm coming with you. Dear Maria, count me in! There's a story at the bottom of this bottle and I'm the pen." He can hear a light tap against the floor past the door, and guesses that the person inside is tapping their foot to make a beat. Before he knows what he's doing, he's joining in, his toes colliding lightly with the floor to create a beat he doesn't know. He soon meets the eyes of Lloyd, who rolls his eyes and smiles before tapping his own foot in time. Within seconds, all four boys are making the beat together, while the voice past the door provides the lyrics. Jay grins for the duration of the song, closing his eyes and leaning against the wall happily, content to stay there forever.

Less than five minutes later, the team are metaphorically woken up by the light padding of feet getting closer to them, disguised by the voice still emanating from the room, though now with a different song. The sound continues to get louder, and they realise all too late who is really approaching them.

"Thanks for the memories, even though they weren't so great! He tastes like you, only sweeter..." the voice sings as the door swings open. The four boys freeze, all four pairs of eyes bulging wide in fear.

Nya is paralysed to the spot, shocked out of her mind to see the four ninja hiding outside her door. She can feel her cheeks start to heat up as she bites her lip. They definitely heard her. _Oh crap. What if they find out?!_

"Wow. I never knew you could sing like that, sis!" Kai exclaims, but Nya pounces on him, shushing him while her blush deepens, her cheeks becoming a burning red instead of a light pink. With a confused look on his face, Kai backs down and, to everyone's surprise, drops the subject. Everyone except Lloyd seems shocked to see Nya in the Cave, and the other three ninja round on him almost immediately.

"You knew she was out!" Kai shouts accusingly, pointing his finger at Lloyd, who recoils. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Well," Lloyd giggles slightly. This was fun. "Let's just say that it was kinda funny to see most of you come bursting in here with panicked looks on your faces to ask why I had called you all here so desperately. Besides, this _is _important, so I didn't exactly lie..."

"You little shit..." Kai growls under his breath. Jay and Lloyd burst into laughter, while Nya and Cole attempt in vain to hide snickers. The Fire Ninja shoots his sister and friends quick glares out of the sides of his eyes, and everyone's laughter only seems to increase. He soon ceases scowling and turns sharply on his heel, stomping back towards the main section of the Cave. Nya shakes her head and follows her brother, Jay close beside her.

"So, how long have you been out?" He asks.

"Only a day or so..." Nya replies, pulling black headphones off her head, letting them rest around her neck. She flashes a quick smile at Jay, who returns the gesture without a thought.

"Wait, a whole _day?!" _Kai practically screams, whipping around again. "A whole _24 hours?! And you didn't tell us?!" _Nya snickers again, covering her face with her sweaterpaws, her bangs falling over face once more. She flicks them out of the way with a sharp jerk of her head as Lloyd nods sheepishly behind her. Kai growls like an animal before turning and pacing up and down the pathway. The other for shake their heads and push past him, following Nya into the main body of the Cave.

"What's under the sheet?" Cole asks, pointing at the large white cloth that covers a colossal something between a few temporary cardboard walls that nearly touch the ceiling.

"Oh, that?" Nya points to the cover, and Cole nods. "We're giving the _Destiny's Bounty _a new coat of paint. After the other alterations, of course. We need to get her up and running again first, though."

"Need any help?" Nya gives Jay a look through the side of her eyes and smiles, nodding slightly.

"If you're okay to give it." She grins, raising an eyebrow playfully. Gosh, she's missed this. Jay once again returns her smile, a familiar warmth igniting in his chest. He's missed this.

**So that's all for now folks! Sorry I've taken so long to get this out again, but a lot of shit's happened at home and life's a bit tough at the moment. I should have some new content up again soon though. Hopefully I'll actually make a swing and get back into it again, but I'm not so sure I'll be able to get something out tomorrow, since I'm busy. I will try once again though. **

**Quick note, followers of the stories "Shifting the Scales of Balance" or "Different", you may or may not have noticed that the names actually changed yesterday. Unfortunately, I got the plot of StSoB mixed up with the plot of Different, so I changed Different to Shifting the Scales of Balance, and the story that used to have that name is now under the name of "Running Wild". So yeah. Thanks for reading!**

**Thanks to everyone for reading this story, and I'm sorry again for the previous chapter. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this one, and as usual, if you have any questions or feedback about this chapter or story, or even any of my others, don't be afraid to leave them in the reviews. **

**See you all later!**

**-LunaPikazard**


	10. Sleep

**Hiya. I'm back again.**

**Welcome back to My Band!**

**This chapter takes place a little while after the previous one, shortly before the episode titled 'The Invitation', more or less. So, in other words, literally a week or two before Season 4 starts. There may be a time jump during this chapter to about halfway into the Tournament, or that may come next chapter, but it's definitely coming. Just a heads-up. **

**I'll see y'all at the end of the chapter. **

Nya flops down onto her bed, sighing deeply.

She and Jay have just finished working out a couple of kinks with the new _Destiny's Bounty_, and she now feels exhausted. **(NOT THAT KIND OF KINK!)**

Maybe she'll have to tell Skylor to postpone the upcoming show...

Almost as if on cue, her phone rings from on her bedside table. Sighing once more, Nya sits up and reaches out, her finally-unwrapped arm twinging painfully. She winces as she answers the phone, refusing to spare a glance towards her arm's scarred skin.

"Hey, Skylor. What's up?" She asks into the mobile.

_"It's my dad. He's saying that there's gonna be some Tournament thing back at home starting in a few weeks and I need to be there for a couple months." _Comes the reply, and Nya can feel her body simultaneously tense and relax at once. After all, Skylor's father is the owner of some massive Noodle Chain, but trouble always seems to follow him. Not to mention Nya has a creeping suspicion that he has some kind of underground organisation doing his bidding in Ninjago City - the man has been exiled since the Serpentine Wars. His right-hand man had been exiled too, along with all of their supporters, but Skylor exists along with his popular Noodle Chain in the City, so he must have somehow found more people on that island, since at least 93% of his followers are males. Nya shakes her head, _not _wanting that kind of thing in her head at all.

"Okay. Just, don't drop all communication. I'll need to know if you're okay or if anything happens to you during this Tournament thing. Okay?"

_"Yeah, yeah, of course. You know me." _Skylor replies, but her tone gives Nya that usual creeping suspicion of something, though she doesn't know what, happening below the surface.

_She's not gonna keep in touch. _

_**Yes, she will! I know Skylor. And she knows me. **_

_Doesn't mean she'll keep in touch!_

Nya shakes her head violently again, dispelling her thoughts for a little while longer.

"Good. So, are we still rehearsing tonight?" She bites her lip, mentally praying for the answer to come back in her favour.

_"I won't be able to, I'm afraid. I'll have to tell the others what I just told you." _Nya lets out a quiet sigh of relief as she nods slowly before realising that Skylor can't see her.

"Don't worry about it, I'll let the others know."

_"Thanks. You're the best." _

"No, I'm not. I'm anything but. Thanks though. And don't mention it."

_"What have I told you?! If you don't stop talking bad about yourself I will physically fight you!"_

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I take it back. Anyway, try to have fun at this Tournament thing."

_"Yeah, I'll _try," Skylor replies, venom and hatred dripping thickly from her voice.

Nya sighs once more as Skylor thanks her and bids her farewell. Returning the gesture, Nya hangs up the phone, hearing the usual three beats meaning the call has been ended. She leans back onto her pillows again and lets her eyes slowly drift shut.

**~~~ SMALL TIME SKIP ~~~**

Nya opens her eyes again to welcome a completely shadowy bedroom around her. The curtains are hanging open, flapping gently in the light breeze that creeps through from under the door on the other wall. She sighs quietly as her dark brown eyes flick to the shining moonlight that floods her room from the window. Letting loose a second sigh, she pushes herself up and forces her eyes open wider. Silently, she plucks her phone from beside her, exactly where she had left it before passing out for whatever reason, and clicks the home button once. The mobile flashes to life, the brightness far too high for Nya's eyes to handle at whatever hour this is. She squints as she lowers the brightness of her screen.

02:24

She barely holds in a groan as she drops her phone back onto the covers. She walks around her bed, holding her breath with each step that she takes. When she reaches her thick, dark blue curtains, she reaches out and grabs the material before letting her eyes wander.

She can see for miles around, though the dark mist from the ocean below blocks out most of the view at the hour. She can hear the soft crashing of the waves from below, faintly echoing against the mountain atop which the monastery sits. She wonders, in the near-silent darkness, what it would feel like to soar through that mist on light, feathery wings, her body gliding effortlessly over the ocean, the sounds landing harshly straight into her ears.

She shakes her head slightly as she gently pulls the curtains shut. Her stomach grumbles and groans - she must have fallen asleep and slept through dinner. She sighs quietly to herself as she creeps around her bed again. She slides her feet into her soft, grey slippers before picking up her phone and headphones. She slips the headphones over her ears and turns them down to the quietest volume before unlocking her phone and opening up her Sleep Playlist. She scrolls through the songs, not able to pick one to listen to. Sighing in resignation, she scrolls back to the top of the playlist and hits shuffle. Almost immediately, a familiar plucked guitar intro fills her headphones, and Nya lets a small smile play at her lips. Barely refraining from singing along, Nya simply mouths the words to herself as she walks along the metal beam that connects her bedroom to the main area of the Samurai X Cave. She walks past the covered _Bounty_, casting up a single small glance, joy sparkling in her eyes at the sight of the ship. The computer monitors to her left, past the ship, have been switched off, not a single light blinking in the darkness. Below the metal beam, the Cave drops down for what looks like forever from Nya's heightened perspective. She bites her lip as she imagines that unpleasant fall before quickly refocusing her attention on the metal door ahead.

Nya approaches the door and casts a single look over her right shoulder to check for anyone watching her. The corridor is, much to her relief, empty, as can be expected at half-past two in the morning on a Tuesday.

She pushes open the door on the right, the one that leads to the Cave's kitchen. The shadows are thick and cover every surface in the room. Nya tiptoes over to the light switch, knowing exactly where it is located on the wall due to her numerous trips down in the middle of the night. She finds the switch with ease and carefully flicks it, trying desperately to not make any noise. The switch gives off a quiet _click _as the lights turn on. The light bathes everything in the room, and Nya blinks rapidly as she tries to adjust her eyes to the sudden massive increase in light.

After only a few minutes, her eyes have adjusted to the brightness and the song over her headphones is reaching its end. She feels calmer as she reaches for a cupboard handle, searching for something to eat without making too much noise or waking anyone else up. She digs through the pantry and fridge for something, anything, before settling on a fruit yoghurt and a small chocolate bar. Not much, but it'll do.

She slowly pulls a silver spoon from one of the drawers before sitting on one of the three bar stools at the kitchen island. She peels the lid of the yoghurt back and starts spooning the crimson cherry sauce from the side pot into the white vanilla yoghurt. She mixes them slightly as the next song's intro starts, a rather high piano leading the way. She immediately recognises it and barely stops herself from humming along to it. The drums soon kick in, and the vocals follow soon after, the male's beautiful voice filling her headphones and enchanting her ears. She nods her bead slowly to the beat.

Nya picks her phone from her pocket to see a text message from Skylor.

**_Amber: Hey, I know you're probably asleep right now, and that's a good thing, so I'm sorry if I wake you up from that, but I was wondering if we'd be able to reschedule this week's rehearsal to Thursday? I don't have to leave for the Tournament until next Friday, so we can still do that show this Saturday, but I won't be able to attend rehearsal unless it's on Thursday. I hope I didn't wake you, and thanks. See you later. _**

_Oh Skylor, you really thought I'd be sleeping?_

Nya shakes her head playfully before remembering that no one else is there with her. A small smile tugs at her lips as she unlocks her phone, her eyes greeted by a picture of two rather old men wearing jeans in front of a grey background, below which sits the name and artist of the song as well as the name of the album. She leaves the music app and opens her text conversation with the guitarist, already opening the text box.

**_You: You really thought I'd be sleeping? Yeah, Thursday should be fine. I don't normally have anything planned, so Thursday shouldn't be any different. I'll ask the others if they're all free, and we'll work it out from there. What time?_**

She sends the message and closes the chat, going back into her music app and scrolling through her playlist to find something to possibly add to her queue. She finds nothing so sighs quietly as she unwraps the chocolate bar. Glancing at the sweet treat in her hand, she realises that she could probably fit the whole thing in her mouth at once. Shaking her head and holding back a rare laugh, she takes a bite as her phone screen shows a new message coming through.

**_Amber: Wow, why aren't you asleep?! It would do you some good to actually sleep for once. _**

**_You: I could ask you the same question..._**

**_Amber: Touché..._**

**_Amber: Anyway, any time on Thursday should be fine. I can always bargain with Kevin to take my shift for me at the Noodle House. You know what he's like. _**

**_You: Yeah, he treats you like his own child..._**

**_You: Okay, I'll ask around and let you know. _**

**_Amber: Awesome. Thanks. _**

**_You: No problem. We need these rehearsals anyway if we're going to make Saturday's show as good as it can be. _**

**_Amber: Yeah, that's true... anyway, you should probably get some sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow, yeah?_**

**_You: You mean later today, right?_**

**_Amber: Yeah, yeah. Goodnight. _**

**_You: Night. _**

Nya sighs as she leaves the chat again and opens one of her social media apps. For once, there's nothing new on her feed. Sighing as she takes another bite of the chocolate bar, she closes the app and goes back to her music. A third song is now starting, it's long piano section beginning. There will be no words until the very end, and she smiles as the music plays. Her eyelids droop slightly as she finishes the chocolate, and she shakes herself slightly to try to wake up again. Her eyes still stubbornly start to close. Sighing once more, Nya pushes herself up from the barstool and shuts her phone off, dropping it into a pocket in her ripped jeans. She runs a hand through her black hair, realising how long it's gotten recently compared to... before all that had happened a few months ago. Distaste and disgust fill her chest slightly as her fingers finally untangle themselves from the black sheet. It's too long compared to how she likes it, but she still can't be bothered to get it cut again...

Hopefully she'll find time before the next show.

Nya drops the wrapper from the chocolate bar and the empty yoghurt pot into the bin before carefully placing the spoon in the dishwasher. She then leaves the kitchen and turns off the light, closing the door behind her.

The song's spoken words finally enter, something about alcohol and space flight, and Nya starts her walk back to her bedroom, the darkness swallowing her whole.

She reaches her room and drops back onto her bed even as one more song starts, once again with a sweet piano intro. This one, however, is lower in pitch and slightly quieter in volume than the others. One again, that hypnotic male's voice fills her ears, gently singing her to sleep before she's even in bed.

Nya crouches down and plugs her phone in to charge before switching off her headphones and putting them on charge next to the phone. She then snatches her wireless earbuds from her bedside counter and connects them, via Bluetooth, to her phone and starts the song again. The boy, who is actually around double her age, sings to her again, practically begging her to simply stay alive. She's only really been paying attention to lyrics since...

Nya shakes her head, not wanting that terrible memory in her mind and bringing down her mood again. She just managed to get calm...

Nya drops into her bed, holding her breath as she silently begs for the springs to not creak. Thankfully, as though some God is watching over her tonight, there is no noise as the mattress catches her.

The final chorus of the two-minute-long song starts, the man's voice sweet and gentle as he sings about staying alive for him, reminding the listener that while they will die, they are free for now.

Nya smiles weakly as her eyes close and she drifts off into the dark, but temporary, abyss of sleep.

**I know this chapter is just kind of filler, but this is all I really have the brain power for at the moment. I've not been sleeping or eating very well recently, and I'm battling Writers' Block again, but hopefully I'll have some better content out soon. **

**As usual, don't be afraid to leave a review or a DM if you wish, I love to hear from you all. You can ask questions, give advice, spare some constructive criticism or simply spark up a conversation. I don't bite. **

**Anyway, I hope you're still enjoying this story. **

**Finally, this is a question for anyone who has read my Soulmates AU oneshot from summer last year. Would you guys like to see a rewrite of that oneshot or should I let it die in the past where it belongs? I believe that my abilities as a writer have improved since writing that oneshot, so I'd like to give it a shot if you guys would like to see it redone. It's all up to y'all, so let me know if you'd like to see it. **

**Thanks for reading, and I'll see y'all on the other side (of the war)!**

**Before I go, I just want to say that I hope you're all doing okay, what with COVID-19 going around. I hope you're all still keeping happy, healthy and safe. If you need or want to talk to anyone, whether it's an issue you're going through or you're simply bored, my inbox is always open and if you are suffering from a mental illness that seems to be getting a bit worse from being cooped up like this, there are people out there who will put time aside to help you. Stay safe, I love you guys. **

**See you all later!**

**-Panic1AtTheEverywhere**


	11. Another one

**Hi everyone! I'm back again!**

**Sorry again for my hiatus, most of you have probably already read this so let's move on. **

**After all, y'all are here for the update, not my rambling. **

**So without anything left to say, here is...**

**Chapter 11**

Saturday rolls around much earlier than Nya would like. Before she knows it, she and her friends have rolled up to the venue, her eyes racing over the walls and staring into the shadows.

The group is early, thank goodness, and she sits quietly, hands between her knees and eyes focused on the ground at her feet, not a single sound escaping her lips.

Jay bursts into the main control room of the Samurai X Cave, gaining looks and stares from everyone inside.

Everyone but Nya, who is nowhere to be seen.

Jay's smile doesn't fade, however, as he waves four small paper rectangles in the air.

"You know that band we saw not too long ago that we all liked? Well I got more tickets again." Kai gives a sarcastic cheer before Lloyd shoves his elbow into the Fire Ninja's side, his eyes narrow.

"When's the show?" Cole sighs, not even looking at the blue ninja.

"Tonight." Jay blushes as he replies.

A chorus of yelled "WHAT?!" fills the boy's ears and he flinches.

"I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you all when I got them." Lloyd sighs and closes his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Honestly I think the last show really was brilliant, it would be fun to go again." The Green Ninja smiles slightly, and Kai raises an eyebrow at him.

"To be honest," Cole pipes up, "I agree with Lloyd. It was a great show and I would like to see them perform again." Kai sighs quietly and nods slowly.

"Yeah... it was a good show I guess..."

"So it's settled." Lloyd grins and his eyes land on Jay again. "What time tonight?"

"In about four hours, and we're only an hour away from the venue, so we have about three hours to do whatever." Lloyd bites his lip.

"Not quite 'whatever' since we can't just turn up in our ninja gi's."

"Why not? We've always looked awesome in them." Kai cuts in, and Cole rolls his eyes.

"Lloyd's right." He adds, his eyes travelling back to his phone. Kai sighs again.

"Fine."

Four hours later, the four ninja wait in their places in the venue, watching the dark stage closely. The band should be up there any minute now.

Lloyd opens his mouth just as microphone feedback starts to echo around the room. The noise level in the venue drops for a second before rising sharply as many fans shout and scream and cheer, calling out the names of different gemstones. The ninja exchange confused looks and shrugs even as the lights flick on, bathing the stage in bright colours. The assembled crowd goes wild again, even louder than the first time.

A chuckle rings out over the noise, amplified by a microphone though the person isn't visible from off stage. Higher and louder screams ring out for a few seconds before finally the crowd dies down, leaving the venue in near silence, though there are still many whispers and murmurs running around.

The lights drop out, shrouding the stage in shadows again and the crowd ripples with noise again even as a bass guitar rings out in the arena. It is soon joined by the lead and rhythm guitars, the drums beating along. The singer soon starts the song and before the boys know it, the real show has begun.

Only two days later, Jay sighs as he watches the news on the small square tv on one wall of the Samurai X Cave.

"And we're joined tonight by none other than one of the biggest mysteries of today's music... Spin Harmony!" The announcer waves to her side, and the camera pans around to focus on, sure enough, the group of hooded figures. The room they're in isn't the regular news reporting room in the news tower, but looks more like the venue the ninja watched their previous show. A few people pass by in the background, sorting out the curtains and lights, as if another show had just wrapped up. The singer, again in their pitch black hoodie, waves at the camera while the one in the amber hoodie sends finger guns before a few of them snicker.

"So..." the news reporter leans forward and lowers her voice a fraction, playing around with the band. "Who are you all?"

"Ah, I'm afraid we can't tell you that, Lucy." One voice replies, and the others chuckle again. The reporter laughs as she leans back again.

"I know, I was just joking. But, surely you know about the fans' nicknames for you?" She asks, and most of the band members nod and hum.

"Yep, we know about them." The voice laughs again, and Jay is pretty sure it's the lead singer, since the voice is very similar, almost identical, to the loud, boosted voice he has heard over the microphones at the two shows he has attended in the past.

"Most of them are actually really creative, but then there's mine." Another voice, a bit lower than the lead singer's, chimes in, and there are a few laughs from the band members and even the reporter.

"Even so, the idea is pretty smart." The singer gestures with their hand as they talk, indicating that it is indeed them talking. "Even you have to admit that, Amber." The one in the amber hoodie nods playfully.

"Okay so you really _do _know the gemstone nicknames?" The reporter's eyes widen as her eyebrows lift, and all the band members nod in unison.

"Yep." All their voices mingle together, and the reporter's eyebrows seem to levitate as her eyes widen even further. The band start to laugh again as the lead singer starts to speak.

"I know that I'm Obsidian, which is pretty fitting in my opinion. We've also got Amber, of course, and there's Emerald and Sapphire too." The members in the green and blue hoodies nod, and the one in red holds their hands up as if to ask why Obsidian left them out. "And of course there's also Ruby." The one in red nods and crosses their arms in victory, remaining silent. A few more snickers can be heard. "There's also Diamond and Pearl as well, even thought it's impossible to tell which is which." The two in the white hoodies wave as everyone else laughs again. Lucy leans back in her chair as she smiles widely.

"So I'm guessing none of you are actually called any of those names? Or are you? Are you just pretending?" She is met with refusals, and she soon moved on to talk about the band's apparent upcoming album. Jay's mind begins to wander, and before he can register anything else from the tv show, the interview is ending, the band saying their goodbyes and announcing that there won't be any more shows for a while due to Amber's 'planned absence' or something.

The Master of Lightning sighs again as he presses the tv's power button. The screen immediately turns off and the sound echoes in the large Cave for a few seconds before Jay pushes himself up off the chair he sits on and walks out of the room.

**Okay so this is all I'm gonna write for now, sorry it's mostly filler but I'm still trying to get myself back into the swing of writing again. **

**Just to let y'all know, I won't be able to write much this week as I start school again tomorrow (well, today now since it's already ten past midnight at the time of writing) but I will try to have more up soon. I'll be trying to write more over the weekend and actually post it too, so hopefully I'll have more up soon. **

**For now though, this is all, and I'll see you all again later. **

**Stay safe, stay alive, I love y'all**

**-PanicAtTheHere**


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